Pat Curran Re-Signs with Bellator MMA Ahead of Featherweight Grand Prix

Two-time featherweight champion Pat Curran has signed a contract extension with Bellator MMA.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a promotion official on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The extension comes on the heels of the announcement that Curran will square off against Adam Borics at Bellator 226 as part of promotion’s featherweight grand prix.

Curran first captured featherweight gold with a third-round knockout of Joe Warren at Bellator 60 in March 2012. “Paddy Mike” defended the title twice before dropping a unanimous verdict to Daniel Straus at Bellator 106. He regained the crown with a fifth-round submission of Straus at Bellator 112 in March 2014 but relinquished the strap in a five-round decision loss to Patricio Freire at Bellator 123.

More recently, the 31-year-old Crystal Lake, Ill., native authored a three-bout winning streak against Emmanuel Sanchez, Georgi Karakhanyan and John Teixeira da Conceicao from 2015 to 2017 before taking a nearly two-year hiatus from fighting. He returned this past May, dropping a unanimous verdict to A.J. McKee at Bellator 221.

Bellator 226 takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sept. 7 and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo. Curran vs. Borics is one of four first-round tournament matchups slated for the event.